1. Technical Field
Aspects of the present invention relates to an image processing system for executing processes regarding images, an image processing device and a server forming the image processing system, and a program for implementing processes executed by the server.
2. Related Art
A system including a digital copier and a host computer connected to the digital copier via a network and provided with functions that the digital copier does not have has been proposed in Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. HEI 09-238215.
In JP HEI 09-238215, the digital copier transmits bit data (containing command codes for control, image data (density data), etc.) to the host computer. The host computer receiving the bit data analyzes the received command codes and thereby executes image processing on the image data according to image editing functions that have been specified for the image data. The image data processed by the host computer as above is returned to the digital copier and printed by the digital copier.
In the above system, when one or more new functions are added to the host computer, information on the new functions is sent from the host computer to the digital copier. The digital copier receiving the information lets a user select some of the new functions that should be registered in the digital copier, that is, some or the new functions that the user hopes to use. In short, the user of the system is allowed to use some of the new functions by registering the desired functions in the digital copier.
However, the above system is unsuitable for environments in which the number of services randomly increases and decreases from day to day (like general servers on the Internet).
Specifically, since each function added to the host computer becomes available to the user when the user registers the function in the digital copier in the system explained above, in environments (like general servers on the Internet) in which various types of services are added and removed frequently, the user has to conduct the registration of functions in the digital copier very often, with a swelling amount of information to be registered.
Especially in such environments with various types of services added and removed frequently, the task of selecting a necessary service becomes more and more troublesome to the user as the number or variety of services increases. Therefore, a system capable of letting the user find a necessary service easily and efficiently has been desired.